Who will Speak?

From Rabbinic Fellow Dov Gottesfeld
And G-d spoke to Abram: "Go you from your land, from your birthplace and from your father's house, to the land which I will show you. I will make of you a great nation; I will bless you and make great your name and all families of the earth will be blessed by you..." (Leh Leha Genesis 12:1-2).

There is no doubt in my mind that every Jew (and even non-Jews) would jump on (change to “at”) that offer; especially because there are no strings attached – God doesn’t demand anything in return from Abram. Strangely enough, Abram doesn’t inquire by asking God: “Why me?” Maimonides (Rabbi Moshe ben Maimon, also known as RaMBaM (12th Century) and one of history's foremost rabbis, explains it in his book Mishneh Torah, Laws Concerning Idol Worship 1:3” that “At the age of forty, Abraham recognized his Creator” ... He began to debate with the people of Ur Casdim and take them to task, saying: "This is not the way of truth that you are following."  He smashed the idols and began to teach the people that it is only fitting to serve the One G-d ... When he began to defeat them with his arguments, the king wished to kill him; he was miraculously saved. He departed to Haran and continued to call in a great voice to the world, teaching them that there is One G-d.”

On a closer read, however, there seems to be one “string” attached. This encounter with G-d begins with a command: “ לֶךְ  לְךָ , lit. go to you” or “get out of here […] to the land that I will show you.” Abram, at least could have asked: “G-d, why not here?” Rashi (The 11th century Jewish scholar, who is quoted the most) picks up on it and writes: Go forth: Heb. לֶךְ לְךָ , lit. go to you, for your benefit and for your good, and there I will make you into a great nation, but here, you will not merit to have children. Moreover, I will make your character known in the world. — [from Rosh Hashanah 16b, Tan.]

Well, I’m glad he did, because we Jews live the outcome of Abram’s journey.

3825 years later, I posed a similar promise, which G-d made to Abram, to my second year high school students. The difference, however, is that I made it under comparable circumstances with respect to their current culture and environment. I instructed them to do the following: “Think of a grand goal that you would like to accomplish for yourselves in the future -- for your benefit and for the benefit of humanity. It should be a goal that would also require a real miracle for you to achieve it.”

Once the goals were set in their minds, I proceeded: “Now imagine that you hear the voice of G-d telling you that He would make sure that you will accomplish your ‘grand goal’ if you leave your home immediately, and go to a non-disclosed place which he will show you, where your ‘grand goal’ would materialize. (G-d, of course, will provide you with all the necessities of survival till then, and it might take some years).” Then I asked the students to raise their hands so we could see how many would subscribe to that offer. A total of a little over ninety percent of the students, male and female, raised their hands. After analyzing the “promise” as a ‘contract’, the students agreed that it was a totally unbalanced agreement, because they had no ‘responsibilities’ and/or ‘commitments’, except for leaving their homes. There was a loud and argumentative debate. I, therefore, added to that ‘promise’ a clause: “It would happen to you only “if you keep the commandments of the Lord your G-d and walk in His ways.” (Deuteronomy 28:9).

Again, there were arguments across the aisles. The next show of hands dropped down considerably, to less than thirty percent, with about half of the students swinging their hands – back and forth in the air to indicate: ”But, maybe not all of the commandments”. Only then, we read and discussed the story of Abram, his total trust in G-d, his sacrifices, pain and the turmoil that he had to endure in his life in order to be qualified to be called AbraHam and rise to the occasion, as G-d had promised him.

When the school bell rang the students filed out of class, most of them with their heads down – obviously thinking and wondering about the lesson they have just learned about themselves. When the last student exited and the door slammed shut with a thud, I remained standing, assessing the outcome of the lesson. The following phrase from Kings I 19:11-13 popped into my mind, and summed it up: “[…] And lo, the Lord passed by. There was a great and mighty wind, splitting mountains and shattering rocks by the power of the Lord; but the Lord was not in the wind. After the wind – an earthquake; but the Lord was not in the earthquake. After the earthquake – fire ; but the Lord was not in the fire. And After the fire – a still and small voice. When Elijah heard it, he
wrapped his mantle about his face […].

 I, then, began to wonder who would lead us and speak for us (Jews) in the
future.

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